At its Aug. 19 meeting, the Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees set a public hearing date for a plan to create a special assessment tax district in the Thurston neighborhood to help pay for the cameras.

As with camera installation plans and tax districts recently approved for the West Willow and Lakeview/Sugarbrook neighborhoods, residents from the Thurston neighborhood watch group requested the cameras from the township.

The township will pay $93,000 out of its general fund to buy the hardware and cameras, while the neighborhoods' homeowners will be responsible for the operating and maintenance costs and will pay $17.36 annually.

In Lakeview/Sugarbrook, 12 cameras installed in a district with 975 homes cost $28.46 per address annually. In West Willow, eight cameras are planned at a cost of $16.54 – or $1.38 per month – for each of its 1,228 homes.

Thurston is bordered on the west by Ford Boulevard; on the east by the Airport Industrial Park; on the south by Parkwood Street; and to the north by Russell Street.

“The neighborhood group wholeheartedly expressed support for the program. They were one of the early ones to sign up,” said Mike Radzik, the township’s director of police services.

The public surveillance camera program was tested in the West Willow neighborhood for several years and township officials and the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Department found it to be useful in criminal investigations and as a deterrent.

“It has proven to be a valuable investigative tool for the Sheriff’s Department to assist in solving crimes,” Radzik said. “Residents feel a certain sense of security from the presence of the cameras in the neighborhoods, and for those reasons they are requesting them.”

Radzik said several other neighborhoods in the western part of the township are also considering petitioning for cameras, though no requests have yet been placed with the township.

A large group divided over the use of the cameras gave their opinions at a July public hearing on the special assessment districts in Lakeview/Sugarbrook and West Willow.

Those in opposition generally feared an invasion of privacy and said they felt there were too many unanswered questions about the cameras’ use.

Township and police officials have underscored that the cameras will only point at public spaces and will only be viewed when a crime occurs. Only Sheriff’s Office deputies trained to view the video can look at the feed. Often times, the cameras are strategically aimed to help catch the license plates of passing cars.

Per township camera policy, they remain fixed in place on DTE Energy poles, cannot zoom, only record public places and do not face any homes or yards. The camera and its supporting metal pole can be moved and reattached to a different utility pole if necessary.

The cameras start recording still images upon detecting motion in an area and transmit full color images back to a central computer. The images are selectively downloaded by the sheriff's department for investigative purposes. Images not downloaded are overwritten by the device every four to five days, depending on the volume of activity.

While a live stream isn't provided and no one regularly monitors the recordings, police can preview and download images from a computer at the police station as needed. Multiple deputies are trained in using the equipment.

No township officials can view the tape, and most of the cameras will be trained on intersections or parks to catch license plates, cars or pedestrians in public areas.

The public hearing for the Thurston cameras will be during the Board of Trustees meeting at 7 p.m. on Sept. 16 at the Ypsilanti Township Hall.